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In this photograph taken Saturday, April 25, 2015, grow lights turn the color of marijuana plants under cultivation to yellow as a contingent of lawmakers, their staffers and a handful of lobbyists toured one of two retail and grow operations for both medical and recreational marijuana in northeast Denver. Colorado's unusual tax law is forcing the state to suspend taxes on recreational marijuana for one day, Sept. 16, during which a 10 percent sales tax and 15 percent excise tax will not be collected. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Marijuana Holiday Saves Growers Big Bucks

Sep 18, 2015

ABC News - Colorado's marijuana growers were the big winners Wednesday when the state suspended new recreational pot taxes, a tax quirk that saved shoppers some sales tax but saved wholesalers tens of thousands.

Prompted by a quirk in state tax law, the one-day tax suspension allowed growers to transfer a month or more of inventory without paying 15 percent excise taxes, or $300 a pound.

At Colorado Harvest Co., a chain of dispensaries in the Denver area, owner Tim Cullen saved $45,000 — before even opening his doors to the first customer.

The odd tax waiver was triggered almost two years ago, when Colorado voters approved two taxes on recreational marijuana — a 10 percent sales tax for shoppers and a 15 percent excise tax for wholesale growers.

Ahead of that vote, state tax analysts miscalculated overall state revenue for 2014. The error triggered a mandatory suspension of the new pot taxes.

Confused? So were many shoppers Wednesday — but they loaded up on lower-cost weed anyway.

"Lower taxes are always better. Who's going to complain about that?" asked Benjamin DelCarpio of Centennial, who was in line early at a dispensary that offered half-price weed to their earliest shoppers.

Some out-of-state visitors were shocked to see the virtually tax-free sale of weed. (It was still subject to local taxes and Colorado's basic 2.9 percent sales tax.)

"I saw online there was some kind of loophole on the taxes, so I had to come buy some," said David Illig of Onawa, Iowa, who was passing through on a drive to California.

Colorado tracks marijuana sales, but it doesn't make the data public, making it impossible to know if Wednesday set a single-day sales record. Several retailers said the day was akin to a busy holiday weekend.